Spring biased axially shifting platen roller in a traveling cylinder imprinter

ABSTRACT

A data recorder is provided which has a carriage movable over a bed having printing elements thereon. The carriage is movable from a home position to an actuated position and returned to the home position to perform a printing function. The carriage mounts a roller platen which is axially shiftable, in response to movement of the carriage, to two different positions to thereby travel in two separate parallel paths of travel. A yoke is provided to shift the platen betwwen the two positions. The yoke is moved to shift the platen in one direction by movement of the carriage through a stroke past the printing elements and the yoke is releasably latched in this position. At the other end of the carriage stroke the latch is released and biasing means causes the yoke to shift the platen to its other position.

United States Patent [1 1 Janik Aug. 7, 1973 SPRING BIASED AXIALLY SHIFTING PLATEN ROLLER IN A TRAVELING CYLINDER IMPRINTER [75] Inventor: Walter E. Janik, Willoughby, Ohio [73] Assignee'. Addressograph-Multigraph Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio [22] Filed: Jan. 10, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 216,549

Primary ExaminerRobert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-E. M. Coven Attorney-Russell L. Root and Roy S. Pyle [57] ABSTRACT A data recorder is provided which has a carriage movable over a bed having printing elements thereon. The carriage is movable from a home position to an actuated position and returned to the home position to perform a printing function. The carriage mounts a roller platen which is axially shiftable, in response to movement of the carriage, to two different positions to thereby travel in two separate parallel paths of travel. A yoke is provided to shift the platen betwwen the two positions. The yoke is moved to shift the platen in one direction by movement of the carriage through a stroke past the printing elements and the yoke is releasably latched in this position. At the other end of the carriage stroke the latch is released and biasing means causes the yoke to shift the platen to its other position.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED M18 1 ma 3. 750, 569

sum 1 BF 2 :PATENTEDAUG 7 ma SHEET 2 [IF 2 SPRING BIASED AXIALLY SHIFTING PLATEN ROLLER IN A TRAVELING CYLINDER IMPRINTER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to imprinting machines and, more particularly, to data recorders for imprinting groups of characters which are adapted to be machine read and, therefore, are of critical importance in the quality of their imprinting. Such machine readable characters are generally of the stylized type for optical code recognition (OCR) machine reading, or magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) machine reading. These characters require very precise outlining of the characters as well as a uniform density of fill of the characters.

Heretofore some improvements have been made to data recorders for imprinting forms and documents with machine scannable data. The improvements comprise such things as compensating platens or anvils to obtain a uniform degree of printing pressure even though the thickness of the embossed card and/or the form may vary from one application to another.

Still other devices include the use of dual roller platens which are independently operated to imprint one group of characters with one of the platens when the platens are moved in a first direction across the form, and to imprint a second group of characters with the other platen when the platens are moved in the opposite direction across the form, as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,272,l20, issued to Johnson, dated Sept. 13, 1966.

An improvement over these devices is the device shown in US. Pat. No. 3,577,917, issued to Nantz, dated May ll, I971. In this patent a platen is carried on a shaft which moves in a path of travel over the bed of the machine on which an embossed card and a form are carried in superimposed relationship. The platen is axially shiftable on the shaft from one end thereof to the other end so that during the operation in one direction of movement of the shaft the platen will move in a first path of travel on one end of the shaft for imprinting a first group of characters, and at the completion of the stroke the platen is shifted to the other end of the shaft and will move in a second path of travel during return movement of the shaft to imprint a second group of characters. The shifting of the platen as disclosed in this patent is accomplished by a C-shaped yoke which pivots about a pin. When the yoke pivots in one direction it pushes the platen axially to one end of the shaft and when pivoted in the opposite direction the yoke pushes the platen to the opposite end of the shaft. The yoke is maintained in either of these two positions by an over-center spring and is shifted to the opposite position by the yoke engaging posts at opposite ends of the path of travel and by physical movement of the shaft past the end of the printing characters with the yoke abutting the posts. The yoke is physically pushed to either one over-center position or the other.

This technique of actuating the yoke by physically moving the shaft past the line of printing and continuing the movement to cause the yoke to bear against the post is quite satisfactory when the amount of information to be recorded is not great and, therefore, the lines of information are not long. However, when a great deal of information is to be recorded, thus requiring rather substantial length to the line, the overall length of the machine is of necessity increased. In many instances it is desirable to keep to an absolute minimum the size of the machine so any reduction in the length thereof, even a relatively small amount, is beneficial. With the over-center shifting device of Pat. No. 3,577,917, it is necessary to have a certain length of the bed extend beyond the lines of the characters to be printed to provide for the necessary movement of the shaft to shift the platen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention a shiftable platen data recorder is provided wherein a yoke is utilized to axially shift a platen between two extreme ends of a shaft on which it is carried. The yoke is shifted in one direction by movement of the shaft past the line of printing in one direction to abut the yoke against a post and is releasably latched in this position. At the other end of the stroke the latch is released allowing the yoke to move the platen to the opposite end of the shaft without continued movement of the shaft past the releasing position. This will thereby reduce the overall length of the bed required for containing the necessary lines of printing and performing the shifting function of the platen.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view with parts exploded of a data recorder according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the carriage of the data recorder;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view through the carriage of the data recorder;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the carriage in the home position with the platen in one extreme position on the shaft;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but with the carriage at its actuated position of travel and with the platen at the opposite extreme position on the shaft; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane designated by the line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT '7 The platen construction of the present invention provides a relatively simple arrangement which can be incorporated in various types of data recorders. In the preferred embodiment as shown, the data recorder is indicated generally at 10. The data recorder is of the type wherein a large quantity of data can be recorded both as variable data from several banks of selectively settable print wheels and, also, from a plurality of individual printing tokens which can be inserted into the recorder. For example, under certain systems of filling of prescriptions it is necessary to record a great deal of data concerning the transaction, such information including the cost of the prescription, the prescription number, the date, and the person dispensing it, as well as various information concerning the person to whom it is being dispensed and the dispensing establishment. Other examples include certain systems of issuing vouchers, wherein information about the person receiving the voucher and the issuing person must be recorded, together with a variable number and a code, the amount of the voucher and the date of issuance. Also, under present conditions that are coming into existence there are many other instances where a large amount of recorded data is required on a single form and a machine of this type is suited for use therein.

As shown in FIG. I, the data recorder includes a base 12 having at the rear portion thereof a. data recording bed 14. The bed 14 includes a printing token receiving slot 16 adapted to receive a conventional embossed plastic card which contains the customers name and other identifying matter such as an address and an account numberv The bed 14 is also provided with several identification plate receiving slots 18a, 18b, and 180 which are adapted to receive different types of embossed identification plates. For example, the slot 18a could receive a plate from the dispensing pharmacist or issuing party, the slot 18b could receive a station identification plate identifying the issuing establishment or office, and the identification receiving slot 180 could receive a permanent type of code imprinting plate.

A first set of variable data printing wheels 20 is provided at one side of the printing token receiving slot 16 and the wheels are operated by a first set of levers 22. A second set of variable data printing wheels 24 is located at the opposite side of the printing token receiving slot 16 and the wheels are operable by a second set of levers 26. A dater 28 is located adjacent the slot 16 and can be set daily to imprint the proper date. The various plates and printing wheels constitute a zone of printing elements. Also, form guides 29 are provided to register a form to overlie the various data printing wheels and the printing tokens positioned in the various slots. The form is shown in dotted outline designated by the reference character 30. j

The construction and operation of the various components of the machine described thus far are conventional and well known in the art and do not per se con stitute the present invention.

As best shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a platen carriage 31 is provided which includes a generally U-shaped frame 32 mounted on wheels 34. The wheels ride on the bed 14 to allow the platen carriage to move on a path from the extreme left or home position as shown in FIG. I to the right or actuated position as shown in FIG. 5, and to return to the home position. The carria 'ge 31 is guided in its movements by the legs of the U-frame 32 extending through slots 36 (FIG. 1) formed in the bed 14. A cover 37 (shown removed for clarity of illustration) is provided to cover the platen carriage 31.

A platen mounting shaft 38 is provided within the U- frame 32 and extends through elongate slots 39 in the opposite legs of the U-frame. A pair of adjusting bolts and nuts 40 extend through the top of the U-frame 32 (FIGS. 2-4) and abut the top of the shaft 38. Also, a pair of tension springs 42 extend from the shaft 38 to the top of the U frame 32. The tension springs 42, together with the adjusting bolts and nuts 40, allow the shaft 38 to be moved up or down to change the printing pressure applied by the platen in a well-known manner.

A roller platen 48 is journalled for rotation on the shaft 38. The journal mounting also provides for axial movement of the platen 48 on the shaft 38. The axial position of the roller platen 48 on the shaft 38 is controlled by a generally C-shaped actuating yoke 50 which has a pair of actuating tips 52 and 54 at the opposite ends of the C-shaped configuration, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The actuating yoke 50 has an upwardly projecting stem 55 which mounts the yoke for pivotal movement on a pivot pin 56. The yoke 50 is biased in a counterclockwise direction (as viewed in FIGS. 4 and 5) by an actuating spring 58 extending between a lug 59, depending from a tab 60 on the yoke 50, and one of the bolts 40. The amount of movement of the yoke in either direction is limited by a pair of raised step surfaces 60a and 60b which are positioned to abut the shaft 38 in the extreme clockwise and counterclockwise positions respectively of the yoke. In the absence of any restraint on the actuating yoke 50, the yoke and the platen 48 will normally be biased to the position shown in FIG. 5. However, the yoke 50 can be pivoted to the position shown in FIG. 4 by the coaction of an actuating post 61 on the bed 14 pushing against a reaction surface 62 of the yoke 50 when the carriage is moved to its far left or home position shown in FIG. I. The movement of the carriage 31 to this position will cause the actuating post 61 to bear against the reaction surface 62 to move the yoke 50 to its extreme clockwise position thus axially shifting the roller platen 48 to the position shown in FIG. 4.

The actuating yoke 50 is releasably latched in the position shown in FIG. 4 by a latching mechanism generally designated by the reference numeral 63 in FIG. 6. The latching mechanism 63 includes a pawl 64 pivotally mounted on a mounting pin 65 for pivotal movement in a counterclockwise or generally vertical direction as viewed in FIGS. 3 and 6, and the pawl 64 is normally biased downwardly or in a clockwise direction as viewed in these FIGS. by a torsion spring 66. The pawl 64 is provided with a latching surface 68 on the underside thereof which is disposed to engage with an engagement surface 70, of an arm 72 extending from the yoke 50, when the pawl 64 is in its down position as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. In this position the pawl will retain the yoke 50 in its clockwise pivoted position as shown in FIG. 4. However, if the pawl 64 is moved to its raised position shown in FIG. 6, the latching surface 68 will release engagement from the engagement surface thus allowing the actuating yoke 50, under the urging of the spring 58, to pivot to its counterclockwise position shown in FIG. 5 and move the roller platen 48 axially to the position shown therein. In order to allow for free pivotal movement of the actuating yoke 50, an undercut channel 74 is formed on the botton of the pawl 64 to provide clearance for the arm 72 of the yoke 50 for free movement thereof after disengagement of the latching surface 68 from the engagement surface 70.

In order to selectively release the yoke 50 from its latched condition, a release block 76 having an inclined surface 78 is provided at the right hand end of the bed 14 in conjunction with one of the form guides 29 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. During the movement of the carriage 3] from left to right from the position shown in FIG. I, the pawl 64 will maintain the yoke 50 in its latched position as shown in FIG. 4 allowing the roller platen 48 to move in a first path of travel over the bed 14 to provide a printing function on the zone occupied by the printing elements. When the carriage 31 approaches the end of the path of travel, and just as the roller platen 48 clears the last of the data printing wheels and plates, the bottom of the pawl 64 starts riding up the inclined surface 78. This will cause the pawl 64 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction upwardly until the latching surface 68 disengages from the engagement surface 70 as shown in FIG. 6. At this point the actuating yoke 50, under urging of the spring 58, will be rotated to its clockwise position shown in FIG. 5 and axially move the roller platen 48 to the position shown therein. Then, upon return movement of the carriage 31 from right to left the roller platen 48 will move in a second path of travel performing a printing function with a different group of printing characters. As the return movement of the carriage to the left continues, and just as the platen 48 clears the slot 18b, the actuating post 61 will contact the reaction surface 62 on the yoke 50 such that continued movement of the platen carriage 31 will cause the yoke 50 to be rotated in a clockwise direction to the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. Since the pawl 64 has disengaged from the inclined surface 78, during the return travel of the carriage 31 to the home position the pawl 64 will be biased to its downward position by the torsion spring 66. Hence, when the yoke 50 is pivoted to the position shown in FIG. 4 the pawl 64 will again engage the engagement surface 70 latching the yoke in this position and readying the platen 48 for a subsequent printing operation.

From the above description it will be apparent that while a certain additional distance of travel of the platen carriage 31 past the printing characters in one direction is required to shift the platen 48 to one position, nevertheless at the other end of travel, as soon as the printing characters are cleared by the platen 48, the latching mechanism 63 is released to provide an axial shift of the platen to the opposite position without a corresponding distance of overtravel. This allows for a certain amount of reduction in the length of the data recorder which, in devices where a great amount of information is required to be recorded in a line, is of significant benefit.

What is claimed is:

l. A data recorder comprising:

a bed for holding printing elements and a form to be imprinted;

a platen carriage movable in a path over the bed from a first end of the path to a second end and return to the first end of the path to perform a printing cycle; a roller platen; means supporting the roller platen on the platen carriage for rotation about an axis transverse to the direction of platen carriage movement and for printing engagement with the printing elements on a zone within the path; shifting means for shifting the roller platen along said axis between a first and a second position thereon;

biasing means associated with the shifting means for normally urging the roller platen to the first posi tion;

actuating means positioned to coact with the shifting means for shifting the roller platen to the second position in response to movement of the platen carriage to the first end of the path;

releasable latching means disposed for releasably latching the roller platen in the second position and maintaining the roller platen in the second position during movement of the platen carriage to the second end of the path; and

release means disposed between the zone of the printing elements and the second end of the path for releasing the latching means in response to movement of the platen carriage from the first end of the path;

whereby the roller platen is shifted from the second to the first position within a minimum distance of platen carriage travel.

2. A data recorder as set forth in claim 1 wherein the shifting means includes a yoke mounted on the platen carriage and pivotally movable between two extreme positions for moving the roller platen to either of its two positions, said yoke having an engagement surface formed thereon; and said releasable latching means comprising a pawl mounted on the platen carriage and disposed to releasably engage the engagement surface of the yoke.

3. A data recorder as set forth in claim 2 wherein a spring means normally biases the pawl into engagement with the engagement surface of the yoke when the roller platen is in its second position.

4. A data recorder as set forth in claim 3 wherein the release means includes an inclined surface positioned to coact with the pawl for moving the pawl out of engagement with the engagement surface of the yoke at the second end of the path of the platen carriage,

5. A data recorder comprising:

a bed for holding printing elements and a form to be imprinted;

a platen carriage movable forwardly across the bed from a home position to an actuated position and back to home position to perform a printing cycle;

a roller platen;

means supporting the roller platen on the platen carriage for rotation about an axis transverse to the direction of platen carriage movement;

shifting means for shifting the roller platen along said axis between a first and a second position thereof, said shifting means including biasing means normally urging the roller platen to the first position;

actuating means positioned to coact with the shifting means for shifting the roller platen to the second position in response to movement ofthe platen carriage to the home position;

releasable latching means disposed for releasably latching the roller platen in the second position; and

release means disposed for releasing the latching means in response to movement of the platen carriage to the actuated position. 

1. A data recorder comprising: a bed for holding printing elements and a form to be imprinted; a platen carriage movable in a path over the bed from a first end of the path to a second end and return to the first end of the path to perform a printing cycle; a roller platen; means supporting the roller platen on the platen carriage for rotation about an axis transverse to the direction of platen carriage movement and for printing engagement with the printing elements on a zone within the path; shifting means for shifting the roller platen along said axis between a first and a second position thereon; biasing means associated with the shifting means for normally urging the roller platen to the first position; actuating means positioned to coact with the shifting means for shifting the roller platen to the second position in response to movement of the platen carriage to the first end of the path; releasable latching means disposed for releasably latching the roller platen in the second position and maintaining the roller platen in the second position during movement of the platen carriage to the second end of the path; and release means disposed between the zone of the printing elements and the second end of the path for releasing the latching means in response to movement of the platen carriage from the first end of the path; whereby the roller platen is shifted from the second to the first position within a minimum distance of platen carriage travel.
 2. A data recorder as set forth in claim 1 wherein the shifting means includes a yoke mounted on the platen carriage and pivotally movable between two extreme positions for moving the roller platen to either of its two positions, said yoke having an engagement surface formed thereon; and said releasable latching means comprising a pawl mounted on the platen carriage and disposed to releasably engage the engagement surface of the yoke.
 3. A data recorder as set forth in claim 2 wherein a spring means normally biases the pawl into engagement with the engagement surface of the yoke when the roller platen is in its second position.
 4. A data recorder as set forth in claim 3 wherein the release means includes an inclined surface positioned to coact with the pawl for moving the pawl out of engagement with the engagement surface of the yoke at the second end of the path of the platen carriage.
 5. A data recorder comprising: a bed for holding printing elements and a form to be imprinted; a platen carriage movable forwardly across the bed from a home position to an actuated position and back to home position to perform a printing cycle; a roller platen; means supporting the roller platen on the platen carriage for rotation about an axis transverse to the direction of platen carriage movement; shifting means for shifting the roller platen along said axis between a first and a second position thereof, said shifting means including biasing means normally urging the roller platen to The first position; actuating means positioned to coact with the shifting means for shifting the roller platen to the second position in response to movement of the platen carriage to the home position; releasable latching means disposed for releasably latching the roller platen in the second position; and release means disposed for releasing the latching means in response to movement of the platen carriage to the actuated position. 